title: DNA methylation regulated nucleosome dynamics.
abstract: A strong correlation between nucleosome positioning and DNA methylation patterns has been reported in literature. However, the mechanistic model accounting for the correlation remains elusive. In this study, we evaluated the effects of specific DNA methylation patterns on modulating nucleosome conformation and stability using FRET and SAXS. CpG dinucleotide repeats at 10 bp intervals were found to play different roles in nucleosome stability dependent on their methylation states and their relative nucleosomal locations. An additional (CpG)5 stretch located in the nucleosomal central dyad does not alter the nucleosome conformation, but significant conformational differences were observed between the unmethylated and methylated nucleosomes. These findings suggest that the correlation between nucleosome positioning and DNA methylation patterns can arise from the variations in nucleosome stability dependent on their sequence and epigenetic content. This knowledge will help to reveal the detailed role of DNA methylation in regulating chromatin packaging and gene transcription.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jimenez-Useche
authors.forename: Jiaying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Daphne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Steven C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Howell
authors.forename: Xiangyun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Chongli
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yuan
mesh_terms: D018899:CpG Islands; D019175:DNA Methylation; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D009707:Nucleosomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D053838:Scattering, Small Angle
chemical_list: D009707:Nucleosomes